The present invention concerns, firstly, a method for automatically selecting a welding sequence for manual welding electrode holders, relating in particular to an electric resistance spot welding electrode holder for assembling sheet metal.
In principle, such a manual electrode holder comprises an electrode holder body connected by a flexible cable to an electric current supply and including, if appropriate, a step-down transformer suitable for supplying the electrode holder with high-intensity current, said electrode holder body being suspended by means of an articulated link from a sling extending in the vertical plane when at rest and preferably provided with a balancing reel. This articulated link usually comprises, firstly, a circular pivot collar inside which said electrode holder body can rotate around a principal longitudinal, swiveling axis and, secondly, a pivot mounted on said circular collar, by means of which said collar and therefore the electrode holder body can pivot on the lower end of said sling around a horizontal lateral axis perpendicular to said longitudinal axis. Finally, such an electrode holder includes at least one handle by means of which an operator can suitably manipulate the electrode holder in relation to the sheet metal to be welded, following which he can initiate said welding sequence by actuating a control trigger or similar device on the electrode holder.
As is known, the main parameters for a welding sequence are the intensity of the welding current, the force applied to the sheet metal between the electrodes and the welding time, which parameters must be precisely determined for each welding point. Currently it is the operator who, after positioning the electrode holder in relation to the sheet metal to be welded, selects the specific sequence which is appropriate, then initiates the welding cycle. A risk therefore exists that, through error or a lapse of memory or attention, the operator selects a sequence which is not appropriate to the welding point, giving rise to a defective spot weld. This risk is variable, as it may depend on fatigue of the operator and on environmental conditions, but it is very difficult to eliminate completely. To reduce it, the number of different sequences which can be selected by the operator on each electrode holder is in some cases limited to two or three.
To avoid creating a constraint detrimental to the output and flexibility of use of electrode holders by being obliged to put into operation a relatively large number of manual electrode holders in a welding zone for which a large number of different welding sequences is required, selection of the specific sequence can be enabled by the manual selection of a welding sequence using a coder wheel or contacts located on the electrode holder or on the welding control cabinet, or by closing external contacts by means of a system which can be automated and can make use of displacement of a contact arm by means of the electrode holder to close the contacts corresponding to the welding sequence, or a programmable automatic device to specify the number of the sequence in terms of the occurrence of the welding point, or a zone delimiter when different welding points are welded in different zones of the workshop, all of which solutions are troublesome or restrictive for the operator.
The objective of the present invention is to eliminate all these disadvantages of the prior art and to automate the selection of the welding sequence according to the orientation of the electrode holder in relation to a reference direction which in this case will be the vertical. In this way the same electrode holder can be used for a larger number of different welding points without risk of error regarding the correct welding sequence for each point.
To this end an automatic selection method of the type defined at the outset is principally characterized, according to the present invention, in that said electrode holder body is integral with an inclinometer unit which is able to generate at least two sets of information in the form of signals:
a) information representing the value and direction of the angle of pivot of said electrode holder body around said principal longitudinal axis in relation to a reference axis; and
b) information representing the value and direction of the angle of pivot of said electrode holder body around said lateral axis in relation to said reference axis,
following which this information is used to identify the welding location and to carry out the automatic selection of the appropriate welding sequence corresponding to this location, the welding sequence identified being so coded as to be able to be transferred to and then executed by a welding control cabinet.
The invention therefore consists essentially in automatically selecting the specific desired welding sequence at a determined location on the sheet metal to be welded, according to the orientation of the electrode holder, i.e. according to the inclination of the electrode holder body in relation to the reference vertical when the electrodes are correctly positioned on the sheet metal at this location. In addition, since the position of the electrodes in relation to the sheet metal directly influences the quality of the weld at the welding point, it may be provided that execution of the cycle is only authorized if the electrodes are actually positioned correctly in relation to the sheet metal at this location, i.e. if the electrode holder is situated globally in a plane parallel to that of the sheet metal to be welded, the electrodes then contacting the surface of the sheet metal perpendicularly; the tolerance on the positioning of the electrode holder may, however, be adjustable.
A method according to the invention can also be characterized by a prior phase of programming or reprogramming of the different welding points in a xe2x80x9clearningxe2x80x9d mode, carried out by means of an interface separate from said electrode holder, which interface is provided as a mobile autonomous unit and can be connected to said control cabinet during this programming or reprogramming, said phase consisting, for each welding point, in positioning the welding electrode holder in the desired position at the welding point concerned and recording in a memory the characteristic angles of pivot of the body of the electrode holder around said longitudinal and lateral axes as well as the acceptable tolerances for these angles, and in identifying the number of the welding sequence desired at the point concerned, a reprogramming being preceded by an operation to erase the parameters previously recorded from said memory.
Of course, before validating the program or the new program, it is verified that there is no competition between the position registered and a position already programmed; if this is the case the programmer has the choice between abandoning the new program or overwriting the previous competing program. In any case, during an erasing cycle the programmer has the choice between deleting all the programs residing in the memory or deleting them one by one. In this latter case, the programmer selects the program to be deleted by placing the electrode holder in the position corresponding to this program.
To increase the reliability of the method, means can be provided for programming a determinate order of welding sequences in a welding sequencer and for verifying its agreement with the sequence detected by means of said inclinometer unit.
With a similar end in view means can also be provided for carrying out a verification of the position of the electrodes in relation to the sheet metal to be welded and to the location of the weld, in order to check that the operator is properly aligning the electrode holder at this location. To do this, a video camera, for example, or any other system for three-dimensional positioning, may be used.
Advantageously, a method according to the invention may also be characterized in that said inclinometer unit includes at least two accelerometers able to measure angular displacement of said longitudinal and lateral axes of the electrode holder body in relation to a vertical reference axis.
These accelerometers, being subjected to the acceleration of gravity, will allow the inclination of the reference axes of the electrode holder body in relation to a vertical reference axis to be known.
Advantageously also, said inclinometer unit includes a third accelerometer able to measure the angular displacement of a third axis of the welding electrode holder body perpendicular to said lateral and longitudinal axes, in relation to said vertical reference axis.
The measurement given by this inclinometer will in principle enable differentiation between two positions which are symmetrical with respect to the vertical from the standpoint of the sensors but which correspond to two quite different positions of the electrode holder.
In practical terms, it can also be provided that each of the vertical planes containing the longitudinal and lateral axes of the electrode holder body is divided, on either side of the horizontal plane, into a certain number of identifiable sectors, the orientation of the electrode holder then being registered by identifying the two sectors in which the axes of the two corresponding accelerometers are located respectively.
These sectors (each of which being, for example, 5xc2x0 of arc) can, of course, be identified within a certain tolerance. Similarly, during programming the sector of each axis to which the welding point belongs for correct positioning of the electrode holder will be determined. The tolerance could be, for example, xc2x110xc2x0 in relation to the programmed position, in the case of each axis.
Optionally, it can also be provided that said electrode holder body additionally carries a detector of rotation around said vertical reference axis, for example, an optical encoder, to measure the rotation of the electrode holder around this axis.
This arrangement will make up for the fact that the accelerometers are insensitive to rotation of the electrode holder in a horizontal plane around the vertical reference axis. It could therefore be put into operation when it is also desired to know the angles of this rotation of the electrode holder around the vertical.
The present invention also concerns a manual electrical spot welding electrode holder of the type mentioned at the outset for implementing the method defined above, this electrode holder being principally characterized in that said electrode holder body carries an inclinometer unit which is able to supply at least two sets of information in the form of signals:
a) information representing the value and direction of the angle of pivot of said electrode holder body around said principal longitudinal axis in relation to a reference axis; and
b) information representing the value and direction of the angle of pivot of said electrode holder body around said lateral axis in relation to said reference axis,
following which this information is used to identify the welding location and to carry out the automatic selection of the appropriate welding sequence corresponding to this location, the welding sequence identified being so coded as to be able to be transferred to and then executed by a welding control cabinet.
It is advantageous, particularly from the point of view of cost, space requirement, robustness and reduced response time, for this inclinometer unit to make use of accelerometers of the capacitance type, sensitive to the acceleration of gravity and supplying an inclination signal of the type with width-modulated pulses.